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Differences Between Sonar & Cakewalk by Bandlab


Jerry Gerber

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I've been working in Cakewalk since Cakewalk for DOS in the early 1990s.  I continued with nearly every upgrade through Sonar and am now running Cakewalk by Bandlab (the free version) for several years.   It's long been my DAW of choice even after using Digital Performer and trying Pro Tools and Reaper.

Can someone tell me the differences between Cakewalk by Bandlab and the new Sonar?  It's more out of curiosity as I don't buy into the subscription model for software.    Bandlab is losing customers in my opinion by not offering Sonar in both a subscription and non-subscription model.   Nevertheless I am interested in what new features Sonar has that Cakewalk by Bandlab does not.

Thanks,

Jerry

https://www.jerrygerber.com

https://www.youtube.com/@astromusicvideo

 

 

 

Edited by Jerry Gerber
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7 hours ago, Jerry Gerber said:

Great, that helps, thanks. If and when Bandlab decides to offer Sonar on a non-subscription basis, (many software companies have an option to buy the software or subscribe) then I will consider upgrading.  Otherwise count me out (a loyal customer since 1991).

 

 

I too am a loyal customer since 1991 (Cakewalk for DOS). It occurred to me last September we will probably never see anything beyond a subscription model for SONAR.  I think it's a great program as it stands today and decided go for it. I am not regretful. In my estimation, the subscription isn't more expensive than the cost of upgrading to newer releases every year or 18 months. Admittedly, subscribers are beholden to the company for as long as  they use the product and can't opt out without saying goodbye to SONAR forever. But the fact we've both been using the product for well over 30 years strongly suggests we're not the type to jump ship anyway. Of course, I don't make a living as a record producer using SONAR (or anything else).  If I did, the considerations would be vastly different.

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Difference between Sonar and Cakewalk! 
Sonar is supported and has seen many enhancements. There’s no nag screen telling you to log in. 

Cakewalk will fade away someday so investing your time in creating projects that will someday become inaccessible to you is not a good idea. 

So to me it’s a simple concept. Forget Cakewalk, it a dead duck! Use Sonar as well as find and learn another Daw that you like and can port your projects over to. 
 

That way you have a plan B. Hopefully Sonar will carry on and become affordable but I am insecure about Sonar’s future at this point. The majority of long time users have all moved away from it now that it is subscription based. Sad. 

Edited by Sock Monkey
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I think they are doing a great job with the new Sonar. For me the workflow is on point. I have used a few other DAW’s, but I always quickly returned to cakewalk (now Sonar) I was taught on ProTools, but the constant updates and pricing is insane. Studio One is the closest to Cakewalk I have found. Luna looks amazing, but the workflow is not quite there yet for me. So, for me, spending a few bucks on Sonar is not that big of a deal. and i hope they start to add a bit more eye candy.. As for the future, I am hopeful..LOL I said the same thing with Gibson…. I would have felt a bit better if they would have had some sort of footprint at NAMM this year, but they are so lacking in social media I have no idea if they are doing anything. The DAW is really fantastic, and they are missing a huge opportunity in my opinion.

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1 hour ago, Sock Monkey said:

Difference between Sonar and Cakewalk! 
Sonar is supported and has seen many enhancements. There’s no nag screen telling you to log in. 

Cakewalk will fade away someday so investing your time in creating projects that will someday become inaccessible to you is not a good idea. 

So to me it’s a simple concept. Forget Cakewalk, it a dead duck! Use Sonar as well as find and learn another Daw that you like and can port your projects over to. 
 

That way you have a plan B. Hopefully Sonar will carry on and become affordable but I am insecure about Sonar’s future at this point. The majority of long time users have all moved away from it now that it is subscription based. Sad. 

 

Sonar will be a dead duck too if they are losing long time customers.   Cakewalk is fine,   yeah, it will fade away one day, and so will you , I and everything else. I've been using Cakewalk since 1991.  Your "simple concept" may apply to you, but not to everyone.   You should be insecure about an app that is available only by subscription.  

Jerry

https://www.jerrygerber.com

https://www.youtube.com/@astromusicvideo

 

Edited by Jerry Gerber
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Yes I am hopeful too as Sonar is the king of midi editing. It is the only Daw Im aware of that has a Smart tool. There’s also track pane in the PVR, Drag and drop tempo extraction and countless other features that other Daw’s don’t have. 
 

But looking out there in the music community there no mention of Sonar and even less of Next. I like Next an hopefully it will grow. 
Notice nobody makes YouTubes about Sonar or Next.  

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We should feel insecure that without financial support,  a business entity will not have the means to sustain great support/improvement staff that needs money to live on.  While I would prefer a purchase (licensing) model, the rent model at least works.   The fact that Bandlab has gone from a free platform to a fee system, should add to the sustainability of the product.  

And to be really technical, even a purchase option is no guarantee as operating systems can change over time and there can be a time when the purchased product has serious glitches with newer operating systems, plugins, etc.

So, I look at the history with Bandlab.  First, Bandlab saved Cakewalk and offered it free for years. Was that sustainable when it was free?  No!  Did people complain?  Hardly anyone complained when it was free even though it was not sustainable.   Like in every good contract, if there are not benefits to both parties, it will not last very long.

Now that the company has decided what they think is sustainable, some people are complaining because they do not like subscriptions. That is understandable.  But it is certainly no less a sustainable product than when it was offered for free.

As a long time user since the 90s, and with many files from decades ago that I can open in Sonar,  and given the low fee for the subscription, I just cannot complain.  Add on top of that this great forum and staff people.

There are probably a lot of happy users that just do not post at all.

Edited by AB9
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We will never know. I believe the Gibson dump scattered many (rightfully pissed off) users and the free (for a time) Bandlab version probably brought some back but I would suspect not many. Has the Sonar rental plan got more back? I doubt it but they probably brought in new users and that's what more important. Most people once pissed off rarely return to a product if they can at all avoid it.

I seriously doubt Bandlab will ever tell us the bottom line but being tied to Bandlab over gives them some leverage. I am not sure Bandlab expects Sonar to be profitable standalone.

In the end, Sonar (and CbB) work well and if it's worth it to you, rent it.

Has anyone list out the specific differences outside of the visuals? I know they've added some new features.

Edited by Terry Kelley
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5 hours ago, AB9 said:

We should feel insecure that without financial support,  a business entity will not have the means to sustain great support/improvement staff that needs money to live on.  While I would prefer a purchase (licensing) model, the rent model at least works.   The fact that Bandlab has gone from a free platform to a fee system, should add to the sustainability of the product.  

And to be really technical, even a purchase option is no guarantee as operating systems can change over time and there can be a time when the purchased product has serious glitches with newer operating systems, plugins, etc.

So, I look at the history with Bandlab.  First, Bandlab saved Cakewalk and offered it free for years. Was that sustainable when it was free?  No!  Did people complain?  Hardly anyone complained when it was free even though it was not sustainable.   Like in every good contract, if there are not benefits to both parties, it will not last very long.

Now that the company has decided what they think is sustainable, some people are complaining because they do not like subscriptions. That is understandable.  But it is certainly no less a sustainable product than when it was offered for free.

As a long time user since the 90s, and with many files from decades ago that I can open in Sonar,  and given the low fee for the subscription, I just cannot complain.  Add on top of that this great forum and staff people.

There are probably a lot of happy users that just do not post at all.

True, a company has to make money to keep developing its software, of course.   I buy software from a lot of companies, and many have both a subscription model and a traditional model of paying when you want to upgrade.   Seems to me that's the best of both worlds for both software company and end-user.  

I've supported Cakewalk for decades as it's the best DAW ever made.  Yes, I've tried numerous others but I've always come back to Cakewalk.  I've produced 12 symphonies, 17 albums, 11 soundtracks and countless short works in Cakewalk, I really love the program and wouldn't use another DAW unless I was forced to.  I only ask that Bandlab consider offering the software as BOTH subscription and purchase models.  In the meantime I am content using Cakewalk by Bandlab as it does everything (and more) that I need it to do.  If Sonar is offered non-subscription I'd certainly take a serious look at purchasing it.

Jerry

Astrophotographic Music Videos

 

Edited by Jerry Gerber
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8 hours ago, Terry Kelley said:

We will never know. I believe the Gibson dump scattered many (rightfully pissed off) users and the free (for a time) Bandlab version probably brought some back but I would suspect not many. Has the Sonar rental plan got more back? I doubt it but they probably brought in new users and that's what more important. Most people once pissed off rarely return to a product if they can at all avoid it.

I seriously doubt Bandlab will ever tell us the bottom line but being tied to Bandlab over gives them some leverage. I am not sure Bandlab expects Sonar to be profitable standalone.

In the end, Sonar (and CbB) work well and if it's worth it to you, rent it.

Has anyone list out the specific differences outside of the visuals? I know they've added some new features.

This is not a comprehensive list:

Spectrum Analyser on every track
Pro Channel Concrete Limiter
Session Drummer 3
Routing Enhancements for sends
Satrt and End Markers
Track Manager Enhancements
Articulation Note Offsets
Automation Smoothing
Configuration Backup/Restore
New File Types
Cakewalk Zip Files
Cakewalk Next for Windows & Mac
Audio Engine optimizations
Greatly improved latency
Plugin oversampling
Plugin Load Balancing
PDC Overrides
Flyout Dynamic Tooltips
External Insert improvements
Quick Exit modes
Deag and Drop opmtimizations
MIDI drawing optimizations
You can now quickly delete specific articulations that are in use in a project, directly from the Articulation Map editor
Command to "Select Associated Tracks/Buses"
Command to "Select Associated Instrument Tracks" via the Synth Rack
New "Left Click Sets Track Focus"  global option
Improved Toast Notifications
Updated Command Center
New Sampler
 

 

Edited by Bristol_Jonesey
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